ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The holidays are typically the happiest time of the year for many – but for some, it can be difficult.

One woman in New York is celebrating her first Christmas without her husband since his deployment to Afghanistan, but she recently found a creative way to feel closer to him.

She made a Christmas card that’s gotten a lot of attention from her friends and family, a card that makes it look like they’re actually next to each other when they’re thousands of miles apart.

Erika Frasier and Brent Betit are high school sweethearts and they’re now a happily married couple.

On September 18th, her husband left for Afghanistan.

Using a WiFi app to talk every day with a nine and a half hour time difference, the happy couple celebrated their Christmas together in a different way.

A handmade Christmas card, an idea Erika got on one of her favorite apps – Pinterest.

At a quick glance, you might think this couple is standing right next to each other but there’s more that meets the eye.

It’s two pictures taken in two different locations.

“I took a picture, and then his friends took a picture of him over there and I just put them together. It’s two separate pictures that I just cropped and put together.”

Erika says her husband sent her almost 25 different poses and this was the one they decided on.

“I just kind of went through a bunch of them. He had probably more fun with this card than I did.”

With the annual tradition of putting up a Christmas tree and seeing the tree in the city, Erika says she didn’t do any of that this year.

“I didn’t do Christmas decorations this year or a Christmas tree. I really found power and strength by doing the Christmas card. It gave me something to look forward to and to see everybody’s reactions kind of bring happiness to a sad time for us.”

Her message to other women who are missing their significant other for the same reason she has this message for them.

“Stay busy! Communication with friends and family is what keeps me going. You can’t think about the bad and when you can’t talk to them, you can’t think about the bad.”

Erika says her husband is expected to come home in July where he may or may not leave again for his next tour.